It has been at least thirty years since theenvironmental pollution threat i Italian monuments. After many promised initiatives and investments, especially to the Superintendencies, the Ministry of Culture , Italian Society of Environmental Medicine (SIMA) have agreed to give life to a concrete project.
It starts with the creation of a technical table called "Culture, Environment and Health”, chaired by the Director General for Education, Research and Cultural Institutes Mario Turetta, who will have the task of identifying the priorities on which to intervene.
The aim of the initiative is to improve in a short time "the state of conservation of cultural heritage, research more advanced solutions and technologies to prevent the harmful consequences deriving from exposure to environmental pollutants". This is the commitment reaffirmed by the top management of the two entities upon signing the agreement.
“The agreement – explained Franceschini – marks the beginning of an important one collaboration between the world of science and that of art for the protection of the Italian cultural heritage, thanks to the use of rigorous methodologies and cutting-edge technologies”. Two apparently separate worlds which, instead, will have to reduce distances and work hard.
Mic and SIMA: the project for the protection of Italian monuments
The problem of protection from polluting agents - which is by no means secondary - also concerns visitors who must be protected when they decide to visit a monument. Therefore, strict protocols are needed to safeguard goods and targeted investments. As far as resources are concerned, a big help will come from the wide availability of the PNRR. Monitoring technologies validated by the scientific community will be used for safeguarding.
Perspectives? Both the Ministry of Culture that the Environmental Medicine Society I do not deny the ambition to also create a pilot path "which can become a reference for all other countries, obtaining a competitive advantage in terms of safe usability".
Environmental medicine experts will certainly not want to fail their task on the main monuments, at least in the Italian context. Then we'll see for Europe. The Ministry of Culture wants concreteness, starting from the technical table with experts, and spreads good will. But sometimes goodwill is the enemy of pragmatism. That for the country that has the highest number of property protected by Unesco, it means only one thing: to act.
